Marathon effort from Stratford AC runners
STRATFORD-upon-Avon Athletic Club members were out in force at the weekend, competing in marathons and half marathons from Cheltenham to Berlin.
Graham Black was competing in the Robin Hood Marathon, with the aim of achieving a time that would give him a ‘good for age’ place in the London Marathon.
This he did, with a time of 3.11.53, which although just under three minutes off his PB, was comfortably inside the London qualifying time of 3.15.
Black finished a magnificent 49th out of 1,192 finishers. Also racing for Stratford was Lisa Whittington, who just missed her target time and finished in 5.03.50. The race was won by Adam Holland in a time of 2.37.25.
James Cusack competed in the Berlin Marathon, which was won in the second fastest time in history.
Kenenisa Bekele triumphed in 2.03.03, a mere six seconds off the fastest time ever recorded.
Cusack managed a superb time of 3.16. Although six minutes off his PB at Manchester earlier in the year, he was rightly proud of his time.
Next up for Cusack is Dublin Marathon at the end of October.
For Martyn and Kate Sergent, competing in the Loch Ness marathon was always about Marytn competing in his first marathon and the pair of them being able to run a marathon together.
The magnificent location of The Loch Ness Marathon was what drew them to the Scottish Highlands. There are many great marathons around the world, many of them particularly marked by their settings, and the Loch Ness ranks right alongside them.
The race didn’t quite go according to plan for Martyn and Kate. They ran together for 20 miles, before Martyn started to struggle with stomach cramps, delaying them both.
Kate carried on alone, to finish in a time of 5.25.51, with Martyn summoning up the strength to finish the race, in a time of 5.53.46.
Closer to home, six SAC members competed in the Cheltenham Half Marathon.
First home for Stratford, in 91st place, was James Coy in a PB of 1:29.11, despite having competed in the Belfast Half Marathon just seven days earlier.
Coy was four minutes quicker than in Belfast and ran the half 42 seconds quicker than his previous best time.
Next for Stratford was Alan Wright (1488th), in a time of 2.01.13.
Another runner competing the Belfast/Cheltenham double in seven days was Richard Hartwell (2.08.00).
Next to finish for Stratford in her first half marathon was Nicola Reynolds in a time of 2.15.08. Phil Groom (2.22.53) was just 77 seconds ahead of the next Stratford runner Paul Nash (2.24.10).
